I shot in studio, during the day and at night to try and select my favorite of these three great lenses. That's right, they're all pretty darn good. I'll agree, some of the chromatic aberration coming out of the Canon f/2 is pretty significant, but outside of my white shooting box things weren't so noticeable. In everyday situations, it did just fine. But let's get started and take a look at how all three performed in studio.

First up is the Canon 35mm f/1.4 L. I chose to shoot the same subject at the widest possible aperture with all three lenses. Therefore, the image below was shot at f/1.4:

You will notice that, aside from some purple fringing where the white script meets the black background, the image has nice defined focused lines and crisp details. Next up, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4:

On the Sigma there is either a lot less fringing or it just blends better because it's green rather than the Canon L's purple. I'm going to go with it's got less fringing. Take a look at the very top of the crop; there is basically no fringing at all, which is different than what we saw on the Canon L glass. From my naked eye, I would say they are about the same sharpness. If you made me pick, I would go with the Sigma being just a hair sharper. Finally, let's look at the Canon 35mm f/2:

You'll notice there is probably the least chromatic aberration present here of all three. It's got clean focus lines, but of course we do notice the one stop difference in the lighting. You will also see that it is significantly less sharp than the Sigma or the Canon L glass. It is by no means blurry, it just doesn't compare with the eyeball-cutting sharpness you see in the first two lenses.

Ok so we've scrutinized these three pretty harshly in the studio, and I'm willing to give it to the Sigma by just a hair. It's greatly outperforming the Canon f/2 in sharpness and beating the L glass in controlling chromatic aberration. Though the chroma fringing is less visible on the Canon f/2, it's just not as sharp and I'm not willing to trade those features. Let's move on to a real world example: daytime landscape shooting. Let's line them up one by one in the same order: Fist the Canon L, next the Sigma, and finally the Canon f/2:

I think what we are going to glean the most out of this test is vignetting. All three are pretty much the same sharpness. There is no fringing or distortion that takes place here in any noticeable way, but you can clearly see that the most vignetting comes into play on the Canon 35mm f/2. The Sigma and the L glass are very close, but the L glass manages to squeak by with just slightly less vignetting. It's close though, and you really have to be scrutinizing to see the difference.

I want to just compare the Sigma and the Canon 35mm f/2 now, because of the price points. They are both very similarly priced and thus should be compared to each other to really select where your hard earned dollars should go. To do this, let's look at some night shots, first the Sigma and then the Canon f/2:

Pretty close right? At least when they aren't at 100% they are. Both handled shooting at night really well, and both had their advantages. I really enjoyed having that extra stop available to me when shooting with the Sigma, but the image stabilization on the Canon made a real difference when I was trying to get a sharp image. On a tripod, the extra stop and the IS basically cancelled each other out, so from a still shooter's standpoint, they functioned about the same. If you forced me to pick, I would rather have the extra stop. IS is cool, but I can see the extra stop being a lot more useful in varying situations. That aside, let's look strictly at performance. here is a 100% crop of the top of the bridge, Sigma first and Canon second.

No contest: the Sigma is sharper. Way sharper. Just like in studio, there isn't really anything wrong with the results from the Canon, the Sigma is just better. Both lenses were wide open and the Sigma outperformed the Canon in sharpness even open further to f/1.4 over the Canon's f/2. Quite impressive.

For you bokeh fanatics, here is a comparison of the bokeh coming from all three: first the Canon L, second the Sigma and third the Canon f/2:

I don't personally have a preference here as I am not that in to bokeh, but I'm sure you all can draw your own conclusions about which you would prefer. From my point of view, they all pretty much give the same result.

The Verdict:

When we look at performance, the Sigma and Canon L trade blows back and forth, but when you throw in price point you can't help but lean towards the Sigma. It was a close fight, but Sigma wins out. Not only is the Sigma just as sharp (if not sharper), it also better controls chromatic aberration without really failing in any one area. The Canon f/2 is not a bad lens, not at all. In fact, it's a great lens. It's just not as good as either the L glass (as expected) or the Sigma. The fact of the matter is that Sigma just outplayed Canon here. Sigma wins in price and performance, which is a really deadly combo. If you are looking for a 35mm lens for your Canon, you can't beat the Sigma 35mm f/1.4. It's just that good.

Jaron Schneider is an Fstoppers Contributor and an internationally published writer and cinematographer from San Francisco, California. His clients include Maurice Lacroix, HD Supply, SmugMug, the USAF Thunderbirds and a host of industry professionals.

The second image you took with the sigma has a different focus point, this is why your seeing less purple fringing (its still there.. at the top) and more green. If you look on the canon images its the same.

It will be to do with how the lens is bending the light in front of and behind the focus point.

Exactly. This is typical of almost any lens. Purple fringing is found after the point of focus where as green is found before the point of focus. You can see this in anything from a Canon L series to an Ex1.

Good article! But, like every other 35mm f2 IS review, you forget to mention how the 35mm f2 IS is the best lens for video. You could shoot stunning video without a rig of any kind! Even with a rig you'll find significantly reduced image warp that a non-is lens. And I personally think that is a pretty awesome advantage that should be considered and mentioned.

Your approach was neither scientific or objective. You completely missed focus (your example of the Sigma at 1.4 top shot and you then state that it is sharper,...really are you serious?). Also, I remember you being very excited and Sigma favorable when this lens was first announced in a previous post of yours several weeks ago. Before I even read this article I bet that you would pick the Sigma I would have been shocked if I was wrong.

Regarding the chromatic aberration: if you know anything about lenses, you know that most fast lenses gives a green CA on things in front of the focus point, and magenta behind it. View a focus accuracy chart and you'll clearly see this.

Now, with your example - the Canon lenses are both focused on the middle line, while the Sigma lens is focused further back. Hence, the Canon lenses has a little of both while the Sigma only has green.

Canon fanboys are a bit upset. You should change the review to read nothing beats canon and they will crawl back under their rock. That aside, I received my 35mm Nikon mount today and all I can say is "IT ROCKS." Sigma did an awesome job and I'm loving this lens. I didn't need it, I just wanted it.

Aren't you paying for the weather sealing and build quality as much as anything else when you get the L series? I mean any modern lens is going to be pretty close as far as final images and in my mind it's the build quality that actually separates them

After Jaron's first review of the 35mm Sigma I decided to purchase one the same day it became available at B&amp;H. The first Sigma 35 1.4 I bought had a squeaking AF motor: returned. Another had back focusing issues at close range: also returned. Finally, one out of three came without issues and I can honestly say that it's the sharpest lens I've ever used, none of my L glass can beat it. Beyond being just plain sharp it is a joy to shoot with, the build quality is impeccable.

It's a great lens - just a bit of feedback : sigma are stepping things up here in Australia - they made a lot of fans with the 85mm 1.4. I use the 50, 85 and 35 mm to shoot weddings and in terms of image quality and price point - they kick ass! All they need now is a great 135mm and a better 24 - 70 and Im all in :)

The purple fringing test was way off. First image was focused on middle, top is purpleshifted and bottom is green. Second one is focused now to the top of the image and bottom is still green. You can't see the shifting to purple as the focus point is too up. And the third image is at f2 so you will not notice the shifting as much because the other lenses were at f1.4. Kinda moot.

Jason,
Thanks for the test, although I'm not sure I agree with you about the sharpness in the bridge shot. The second shot (canon) shows more camera shake than the first shot (sigma) so it's really not a fair comparison. Take a look at the stars on either side of the bridge in the first and second crops -- to my eyes I see points of light for the sigma and little dashes of light for the canon. I'm assuming this is a slight camera movement but if you have another explanation please let us know. And thanks again!